Formula 1 2014: General Discussion Thread

Brian_Zeluz

You're missing out big time if you're not following Taki

flazio

RE, those Steering wheel screens, could the pits send info to the driver in case of radio failure?

Peanut Butter Jelly

I think they read solely from the onboard telemetry so I don't think so.

ZiabR

Brian_Zeluz wrote: »

You're missing out big time if you're not following Taki

How is that even possible... I mean it is hard to get karts off the ground...

H3llR4iser

Brian_Zeluz wrote: »

You're missing out big time if you're not following Taki

Brilliant...just brilliant! From the guy whose most remarkable achievement in F1 was to be run over by the medical car

Skip to 0:22

Donnelly117

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Brilliant...just brilliant! From the guy whose most remarkable achievement in F1 was to be run over by the medical car

Skip to 0:22

I knew I recognized that name from somewhere!

Zcott

He's also the guy whose car was hit by the safety car in Monaco and ended up flipping.

RayM

Panorama documentary about Bernie Ecclestone on BBC1 tonight at 8:30.

Bernie Ecclestone: Lies, Bribes and Formula One.
Panorama's Darragh MacIntyre investigates the truth about the boss of F1, Bernie Ecclestone, and asks why he is still in charge. Ecclestone has dominated Formula One motor racing for forty years and made billions from the sport. But two courts say he paid a $44m bribe, a judge recently concluded that it was 'impossible to regard him as a reliable or truthful witness', and he may have avoided a billion pounds of UK tax.

MS.ing

MS.ing wrote: »

whats going on with the gear changes, it drops from 5th to 1st in a couple tenths of a second (which is not humanly possible) referring to one minute in btw

Zcott wrote: »

I think it's more an example of what happens rather than what actually happens on a lap.

no the rest of the clip the majority of the gear changes are in real time
(paddle shifts not gonna say all as that one jumped out at me and I concentrated on it then)

GarIT

MS.ing wrote: »

no the rest of the clip the majority of the gear changes are in real time
(paddle shifts not gonna say all as that one jumped out at me and I concentrated on it then)

Does the display not show the gear you have selected rather than the gear you are in. If you downshift a couple of gears the number should instantly change and then there might be a physical delay for it to happen.

_rebelkid

With the week that it is, I decided to make a new Twitter Header photo.

lolie

Force India to announce smirnoff as a sponsor later today.
Kimi to force India in 2015 so.

Zcott

lolie wrote: »

Force India to announce smirnoff as a sponsor later today.
Kimi to force India in 2015 so.

Not hugely surprising, Vijay Mallya sold 25.02% of Kingfisher to Diageo, Smirnoff's parent company. I wonder if part of that deal included prominent ad space on the Force India.

mickdw

Zcott wrote: »

Not hugely surprising, Vijay Mallya sold 25.02% of Kingfisher to Diageo, Smirnoff's parent company. I wonder if part of that deal included prominent ad space on the Force India.

So we could soon have guinness sponsorship on the (ex) jordan.

Gillespy

Now they have a black livery it would work in nicely.

1981 March.

christy c

Gillespy wrote: »

Now they have a black livery it would work in nicely.

1981 March.

What car is that in the picture?

Gillespy

March 811 from 1981

Jordan 199

Gillespy wrote: »

March 811 from 1981

I had a look at the 1981 season and 37 different drivers took part during the season. 37 :eek:

_rebelkid

20 years ago today, Rubens Barrichello had what would be the first of 4 big impacts at the Imola Race Weekend.

christy c

Gillespy wrote: »

March 811 from 1981

I saw that on your original picture and thought the picture was taken in March 81! A blonde moment

_rebelkid

20 years ago today, Austrian Roland Ratzenberger lost his life at Imola, after a head-on collision with a concrete wall 20 minutes into the qualifying session. After sustaining slight damage to the front wing of his Simtek car, he stayed out for another lap. After Tamburello, as he approached Variante Villeneuve, the front wing failed and went underneath his car. This prevented him from turning for the Variante Villeneuve chicane. His car went over the kerb and into the wall on the outside of the turn.

Ratzenberger's death was the first F1 fatality since Elio de Angelis in 1986, but was sadly not the last.

Going Strong

That bloody awful weekend.

I remember watching the qualifying session with my housemate. When Roland's car hit the wall, he turned to me and asked "Is he dead?" and I said most likely yes as the marshal's body language and the commentator's tone (We were watching it on Eurosport I think) said as much.

Gillespy

Senna knew it too.

Mod edit:No need for those gifs, we don't need to see the death of a driver here

SnowDrifts

^^ Is there really any need for that first gif?

Gillespy

Apologies for that. Thanks for taking care of it.

TheDoctor

Amazing how exposed the top of the drivers were in 94

Could see the shoulders, neck and head so clearly over the side of the car

Nerdlingr

Never knew there's not even a plaque or anything commerative for ratzenberger at the Imola Track. Thats shocking ... and very saddening too.

ScumLord

TheDoctor wrote: »

Amazing how exposed the top of the drivers were in 94

Could see the shoulders, neck and head so clearly over the side of the car

It was crazy, just look at the lotus 49 it was an engine with wheels and a tube stuck to it. Safety just wasn't even a consideration back then.

Jordan 199

Roland Ratzenberger saved Heinz-Harald Frentzen from being stabbed in the back at a bar in Tokyo.

Infoanon

ScumLord wrote: »

It was crazy, just look at the lotus 49 it was an engine with wheels and a tube stuck to it. Safety just wasn't even a consideration back then.

The Life L90 that was raced in 1990 was a car that was so dangerous that the original designer warned drivers about stepping into it.

After the tragic 1982 season improvements were made to safety but there was still an acceptance of the potential of a fatality and there had been ominous warnings before the tragedies of Imola.

_rebelkid

Infoanon wrote: »

The Life L90 that was raced in 1990 was a car that was so dangerous that the original designer warned drivers about stepping into it.

After the tragic 1982 season improvements were made to safety but there was still an acceptance of the potential of a fatality and there had been ominous warnings before the tragedies of Imola.

If there was ever a sport that had more close calls than one can mention, it's F1.

TheDoctor

Do you think F1 has seen its last driver fatality?

Think Massa in Hungary a few years ago was the closest thing since Senna

Should the cockpits be closed?

PopePalpatine

Infoanon wrote: »

The Life L90 that was raced in 1990 was a car that was so dangerous that the original designer warned drivers about stepping into it.

Was that because of the speed differential with the other cars?

I never heard that story about Ratzenberger saving Frentzen from getting stabbed.

_rebelkid

You can see his emotion for Roland in his face...

Infoanon

PopePalpatine wrote: »

Was that because of the speed differential with the other cars?

.

The drivers shoulders were above the cockpit side, questionable suspension pick up points, overcooked chassis mould, steering column that was to quote "downright dangerous" etc etc

Mike Litoris

Infoanon wrote: »

The drivers shoulders were above the cockpit side, questionable suspension pick up points, overcooked chassis mould, steering column that was to quote "downright dangerous" etc etc

..jesus, look at how much of the driver is exposed.

donspeekinglesh

How was that even legal? That roll hoop offers no protection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn8gh39SsrM

Nice video from McLaren.

Sheeps

was just about to post that. They put some serious effort in to their media.

_rebelkid

On this day, 1 May 1994, the world lost one of the greatest drivers it had ever seen. At a weekend already marred by the death of Austrian Roland Ratzenberger,
Ayrton Senna joined the list of lost greats that, in Formula 1's case, was already too long.

The race began with immediate shock, with Pedro Lamy in his Lotus running into the back of JJ Lehto's stalled Benneton.
The next 6 laps were behind the safety car as the stewards cleared the huge amount of debris
from the track.

On lap 7, the second racing lap, Senna's Williams suffered a steering column failure, though the designer of the FW16 he was
driving, Adrian Newey, believes that the column failed during the crash, and that the rear of the car
stepping out uncontrollably was the most likely cause of the crash, as he approached Tamburello.
Tamburello was one of those flat out left handers that was barely a blip on a drivers radar. Senna left the racing line,
over a kerb, at 190mph, and struck and unprotected concrete barrier at what the telemetry showed was 135mph, with
Senna managing to slow the car down nearly 60mph in just over 1.5 seconds. The car hit the wall at a shallow angle,
breaking off the entire front right corner. Senna was pushed back against the headrest, and hit by 2 separate pieces
of suspension, as well as the steering wheel. Anyone of those 4 injuries could have killed him.

Within minutes of Senna's car coming to a stop, medical professionals had him out of the car, headed up by
the then Formula One Safety and Medical Delegate, and pioneer of F1 Safety, Professor Sid Watkins, OBE.
Watkins performed an emergency tracheotomy, and began attempts to stabilise Senna's condition.
Watkins later said:
"He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted
him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am not religious, I felt his spirit
depart at that moment."

10 minutes after the race was stopped, through the confusion in the pit lane, Erik Comas was able to leave the pit lane
to rejoin what was, a red flagged race. He drove to the scene of Senna's crash, and only barely missed the medical
helicopter. Erik later explained his reason for doing this was that when he crashed in Spa in 1992, the only person
to stop and help was Senna. Not even his own teammate stopped. "Senna", Comas said, "put his own life in danger to save mine." He went out and
wanted to help, but he said that he "had never felt so helpless in his life." There was a man who only 2 years before had
saved his life, and there was nothing he could do to try and do the same.

Senna was rushed by helicopter to the Intensive Care unit at Maggiore Hospital. Brain Scans confirmed Watkins' trackside
diagnosis, with Senna suffering severe and multiple head trauma's. Senna's heart stopped twice in the hospital. The second
time it was decided that they would not restart it. Before that, Senna's brother Leonardo had arranged for a priest to give
Ayrton his last rites. The official time of death was given as 2:17pm.

In the time following Senna's crash, it was revealed that he had hidden a furled Austrian Flag in the car, which he intended
to raise after the race in honour of Roland Ratzenberger, who had died the day before.

Senna's death shook not only F1, but the world. Outside of racing, he was a very devout Christian, an incredibly charitable man
and had begun the setup of the Senna Foundation: a charity which promotes sport and education for children in Brazil.

More than 3 million people lined the streets of Sao Paulo, with the Brazilian Government declaring 3 days of National
Mourning. Prominent F1 figures like Alain Prost (Senna's McLaren nemesis), Damon Hill (Senna's last teammate), Rubens Barichello
(one of Senna's closest friends and protégé), Jackie Stewart (a pioneer for better safety in F1) and Brazilian F1 Legend Emerson
Fittipaldi were among the pallbearers at the funeral.

Trials in Italy later found Patrick Head guilty of Manslaughter, a charge which was eventually "timed out" after the case was re-opened
in 2003.

What caused the crash that day, no one can be certain of. What is certain though, is the loss that F1 suffered that weekend.
Though he was not a man many people "liked", he was certainly one whom everyone respected for his sheer driving ability.
He was an unquestionable king of qualifying, and was a supreme wet weather master. In a tribute piece for Top Gear, Martin Brundle
described it as "almost a 6th sense for where the grip was before he ever turned in to a corner".

There are many moments that Ayrton has given us in F1 that will never be forgotten: his tangle with his then team mate Alain Prost
in Suzuka in 1989, his tangle again with the now Ferrari driving Prost in Suzuka 1990, and, my personal favourite, the
1993 European GP at Donington; fourth, to second, to fifth and finally to first in the space of one lap, and an absolutely
dominating drive from then on, and so many more.

The weekend of the San Marino GP is remembered as F1 Darkest Weekend, with the loss of 2 drivers. Today marks the 20th anniversary of their
deaths.

Roland; a man who never got to show what he was capable of in F1, and
Senna; a pure breed of racer, and one of the all time greats of Sport.

Below are links to Sky Sports F1's "Senna Week" pieces and other Senna Tributes:

Damon Hill: Senna's Last Teammate

Senna: Journalist Special

Senna: Echoes of the Past

Senna: A Special Ted's Notebook

Top Gear Senna Tribute

The 2010 Documentary "Senna"

Zcott

Who watched it on TV? I was 12 at the time and remember it was a bad accident. We all went out for a family dinner that night and it was announced on the car radio on the way home. I'll never forget it.

Myrddin

"He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted
him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am not religious, I felt his spirit
depart at that moment."

Powerful stuff.

Yeah I remember it on the day it happened, I'd have been 12 myself. I wasn't info F1 or anything, I think it was just on tv at the time...I remember the helicopter on the track taking off, & hearing a while later that Senna was dead.

Going Strong

I watched it at my parents house. The entire weekend just seemed 'wrong', something just didn't feel right to me. I hate to use the phrase "An accident waiting to happen" but the 1994 season felt that way. The cars were tricky to drive, the drivers seemed to be fractious with one another and the FIA was gearing up for a scrap with the teams over the rules and regulations.

There was Barrichello's near-fatal accident on the Friday, Ratzenberger's death on the Saturday, the startline accident between Pedro Lamy and JJ Lehto sent a wheel into the crowd and nobody knew if there was any injuries or worse. Sitting watching the tv, there just seemed to be an air of barely-controlled chaos that weekend, it's hard to explain how or why I felt like that but it seemed to be a very nervy paddock which had one eye on the race going on around them and the other on matters off-track.

Then came Senna's accident and the terrible footage. The BBC cut to a camera shot looking at the pit lane exit while Eurosport left the trackside feed on. It showed Senna slumped in the car and the heli shots showed how bad it really was. The weirdest bit I remember was the pit lane being closed yet Eric Comas came out in his Larousse, drove up to the scene of the accident, stopped briefly and then went around the lap and back to the pits to retire from the race. The race was restarted and, while it went on, we got "Still some hope" messages from the commentators regarding Senna's condition. It wasn't until a few hours later I got a phonecall from my housemate who was in tears as he told me that BBC news had announced Senna's death.

_rebelkid

Tributes to Senna in the Media:

David Coulthard- I owe him my racing career.

Nigel Mansell leads tributes to 'thoroughbred racer'

Lewis Hamilton: 'Senna-The Genuine Hero'

Jack Leslie on Senna

Dennis: Senna was just so unbelievably competitive

Video Tribute peice for UBS by David COulthard

lolie

Nice tribute to Senna by Corinthians football team in Brazil last night.

ZiabR

Some great shows on Sky F1 today in memory of Senna.

Going Strong

lolie wrote: »

Nice tribute to Senna by Corinthians football team in Brazil last night.

I remember the Brazilian squad dedicating their 1994 World Cup victory to Senna.

_rebelkid

A minutes silence was held at Tamburello at 2:17pm, the official time of death of Ayrton.

Gillespy

Kimi and Fernando were there.

Frank Bullitt

"...And you know a lot about racing. And you should know that by being a racing driver, you are under risks all the time. By being a racing driver means you are racing with other people. And if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you're no longer a racing driver, because we are competing. We are competing to win, and the main motivation to all of us is to compete for victory; it's not to come 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th."